The Feeding of the 5,000 was almost certainly an insurrection attempt.
1. Jesus & the disciples go to the desolate side of the Sea of Galilee before Passover Week, a known MUSTER POINT FOR REBELLION PLANNING outside Rome's gaze.
2. The crowd saw the "signs" he was doing with the sick, making him the LIKELY MESSIAH to overthrow non-Jewish rule & set up the Throne of David.
So thinking there is a rebellion afoot, men come from everywhere to join. Josephus indicates these musterings happened yearly.
3. The texts only count the MEN IN ATTENDANCE. If you are going to insurrect, only the total number of men would matter.
There were more men, by far, in the area during Passover than any other time of year.
Passover week was always, "Now or Never!"
4. When they sit, Mark and Luke tell us that they sat in groups of 50s and 100s.
i.e,, military-type ranks and formations.
They were there for a purpose, and it wasn't a lecture and a meal.
5. Why so many leftovers? Sometimes you have to make a choice of what you are going to carry away from your run-in with Jesus:
It's always Forks over Knives.
You can't carry both. Jesus gives them weapons of meal rather than mass destruction.
Think I'm crazy?
This is how John ends the story:
"...When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself." — JOHN 6:15
They didn't want leftovers, they wanted Barabbas.